‘We want our brother’s remains’

Pa Solomon Sowole and Ma Olufunke are the parents of the late Lt. Adeyemi Sowole, the co-pilot of the Nigerian Navy chopper which crashed in Bayelsa State last weekend killing all the six passengers. They are old and in grief. When ADETUTU AUDU and INNOCENT DURU met them at their Iyana-Ipaja home, they looked distraught and overwhelmed with grief. Their house was besieged by hordes of sympathisers. Amid the grieving and cries, the family revealed the late Adeyemi was supposed to be off duty the day he died. They expressed regrets that he and the others were not treated as if they mattered.

When Lt. Adeyemi Sowole, the co-pilot in the December 15 helicopter crash in Bayelsa State jokingly told Aderonke, his younger sister, that he would not be coming home for the family’s annual get-together, never did it occur to her that his statement would in reality translate to eternal departure from the home.

Aderonke who spoke with The Nation on Sunday at their family home in Lagos narrated that the brother would not have died if he had not received a call on the eve of his death to cancel his break from work. She recalled tearfully that he was supposed to be off from duty on the fateful day that he met his untimely death but had to go back to work when he got the call.

She said: “My late brother was a humble and caring man. He called me his second wife and mother. I will never forget him. I thank God that he had a child and was expecting another before he died.

“We spoke few days before he died. One of the things I asked him was if he would be coming home for our annual end of the year/ New Year get together. He jokingly replied that he was not coming but later said he would come. I never knew that the joke was real. I never knew that the statement meant that he would never come home again. It was a joke at that particular point in time but it has become a reality that we have to live with forever. He had fixed his personal get-together for December 28 but he is not here anymore, he’s gone. It is unfortunate that people are only talking about (Governor Patrick) Yakowa and (Gen Andrew Owoye) Azazi without any concern about the other victims and their families. It is painful that mention is not made of them. Were they not human beings like other victims?

“He was supposed to be in Lagos on that very day he died. He was supposed to be off from duty that very day but he got a signal on Friday night that a week had been added to his duty schedule. That was why he could not come to Lagos and had to dutifully embark on that ill- fated journey.”

Premonition

As if he had premonition of his death, he was said to have spoken with virtually all his siblings on the eve of his death.

The elder sister Funke Kalejaye said “I spoke with him on Friday evening from the Redemption Camp. He told me that we would talk more when he returned on Sunday but that was not to be. I heard about his death from my husband and could not believe it. His death is painful because he never joked with all of us and his chosen career.”

Taiwo, the elder brother, said the news of his brother’s death was shocking.

“Nobody ever in his wildest imagination ever thought of that. We want to see his remains. Personally, I want to see him. The government should release his remains to us. I must see it, no matter what it looks like, he said.

Owolabi, the immediate younger brother, also requested that his remains should be made available to the family.

He said: “The government should take care of the family he left behind. They should also investigate the cause of the crash and make their findings public and at the same time make his remains available to us.

“We discussed at length the Friday preceding his death. He made a lot of promises to me because all that he asked me to do had matured. All that was left for me was for him to return from the ill-fated journey and ask me to carry on. On that very night, he pleaded with me to take our mum to the hospital because he did not want anything to happen to her. I never knew that he was making his last wishes that very day.”

A mother remembers

Recalling his last moment with her, the mother said: “I was on admission at the hospital on that fateful day. Earlier on Friday, I had spoken with Yemi that I was feeling feverish and he advised I go to the hospital. He promised to see me as soon as he comes back, not knowing that he won’t. So that was how I was admitted. By the time I returned home, I just met a lot of people in our house, especially some close family friends and I wondered what had happened. By the time I settled in, the news was broken to me. The newspaper just reported that a governor and a former NSA and others died in the crash. They never mentioned the others’ names.”

She described him as a “Child that loved his parents and his siblings. He would not want us to suffer. He was our bread winner. I am 64 and the father is close to 80 years. He also loves his aged grandmother close to 100 years. He showed excellent spirit right from when he was young. He had been certified to drive warship before he went for further training in piloting in Italy. He graduated last year and also got married last year March. His wife just delivered a baby in March this year

“When he was younger, Yemi had always wanted to be a uniform man. In his younger days, he would tell his friends to queue and salute him. He called himself Yemi Olopa. His father-in-law is a retired naval officer. He just finished another course in Jaji and was due for another promotion. He was not a child destined to die young. Even when Boko Haram was killing people he didn’t die. How come he died in this manner?”

Shocking way to hear of a son’s death

The father, Mr. Solomon Sowole, simply said “It is rather unfortunate. Around 3.30pm on Saturday I got announcement of the crash on radio, while I was with some friends. I was afraid because he told me that he was going to Warri and I was wondering why Bayelsa. Later one of his younger ones told me that one of his friends called and asked after me. So, l became suspicious. The next morning, the worst was confirmed through newspaper headlines review (Koko inu iwe iroyin).

“I didn’t discourage him when he decided to be a pilot. While at the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), when he sustained injuries during training and he told me, I encouraged him more. He was determined and even picked to serve in the Nigeria Navy after the training.”

Since the unfortunate incident last weekend, the three-storey building residence of the Sowoles at Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos State has grown to be an unusual attraction for people both known and unknown by the family. Friends and relations from far and near gather on a daily basis to commiserate with the Sowoles on the death of their son, who was loved by both old and young in the area.

Among the sympathisers, Mrs. Christiana Adebayo who is a teacher at the Command Children School, Yaba said she was most pained by the death of the promising young man whom she collected the NDA form for few years ago. “He was always coming to me that he wanted to join the force. I was the one that bought the form for him at N500 then and even looked for a senior officer to help him to sign it. I liked his zeal and even rapid growth in the profession, only to for him to be cut off at his prime.”

Wasiu Ajani, a resident of the area said the whole area was thrown into pandemonium when the news of the crash hit them. “Everyone in this area both old and young could not but help share in this family’s grieve. Yemi was an easy-going chap, right from his younger days.”

For Adetutu Adebisi, what would have been a happy reunion with the family after 20 years turned out to be in grief as the enthusiasm of seeing an old family friend was taken over by grief. “It is sad that we are meeting again this way after so many years”, lamented the elder sister of the deceased, Idowu Kalejaiye nee Sowole.

Adebisi continued, “I saw a comment on the crash on Facebook, though I never knew Yemi joined the Navy. Though there can be more than one Yemi Sowole, but the comment read that he went to St. Peters Unity School, Akure and younger brother to Olajide Sowole, it then dawned on me that the late Yemi was one of the Sowoles that we grew up together and that was how I traced them back to their family residence.”

This is most sad story I ever had since my birth. Uncle yemi shouldn’t have died for many reason. Its so painful and I can never forget this or forgive this country. Anytime I remember this I cry out bitterly and its pain is always here on my heart. I wish u were not dead.
RIP uncle, I believe there will be reunion and we see. I love u uncle